lachstvslängstWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: lachst is a verb, längst is an adverb, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“lachst” is a verb and “längst” is an adverb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#28,742
“lachst” frequency rank
#1,520
“längst” frequency rank
30262
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature lachst längst
Definition 2. Person Singular Indikativ Präsens Aktiv des Verbs lachen schon lange, seit langem, seit langer/längerer Zeit

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set lachst and längst apart are highlighted. They share 3 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch
lachst
6 ch
längst

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: lachst is [laxst] while längst is [lɛŋst]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adverb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 30262, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

lachst is recorded at frequency rank #28,742, classified as averb, pronounced [laxst]. längst is at rank #1,520, tagged as anadv, pronounced [lɛŋst].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 30262, this pair ranks #1,751,310 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of lachst vs längst

Shared letters: lst. Private to "lachst": ach. Private to "längst": gnä.

"lachst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC  ·  "längst" · 6 letters · shape CVCCCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • lachstalchst · lacchst · lachhst · lachsst · lachstt · lachts · lacsht · lahcst

Frequency comparison

lachst#28,742
längst#1,520

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "lachst" and "längst" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "lachst" is a verb and "längst" an adverb, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "lachst" or "längst"?
"längst" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,520 in our German list, against #28,742 for "lachst". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering lachst vs längst

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “lachst”; for an adverb, it's “längst”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “lachst” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list